While chatting with my sister this morning, she mentioned to me to try her new recipe that makes a simple flan into a special dessert.

Actually, we have been following the no fail leche flan of Market Manila and usually the egg whites would end up in the freezer. So my sister decided to use the egg whites and make it into a meringue to top the flan. This way, you used all eggs and have a different take to a plain leche flan. Also, she added cream of corn to the flan mixture just for texture.

I tried it and my board of judges, my family members, have their own take on this new dessert. My dad, husband and son did not like the corn in the flan. For them it is just a distraction to the natural smoothness of the flan. My mom on the other hand doesn’t mind the corn but suggested that I minimize on the caramel syrup (base) since the meringue is already sweet. My daughter has no comment since she’s not a fan of eating egg.

I agree. If I want my family to consider taking again on this dessert, I should not add corn and cut on the caramel base. The meringue on top was a hit and it just gives sophistication to the plain old flan.

We’ll try this again.

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I enjoy shopping. Let me stress though that I enjoy shopping for anything that I can use in the kitchen. If I can find a bargain, that’s much better.

Yesterday, I got lucky in Marshalls. I found this Nielsen-Massey vanilla beans for half the price as compared to Amazon and this pure vanilla extract at $5 off. I’ve always liked Nielsen-Massey for its good quality. I guess they would not be around since 1907 for nothing. By the way, this is not even a paid post.

I use vanilla extract and beans to enhance the flavor of my baked goodies. Just make sure to get the pure vanilla extract. Believe me, there are imitations, leaving you with an aftertaste and overpowering the rest of the flavors of your ingredients.

How about you? Any finds this weekend?

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” my husband and I asked our daughter.

We were having dinner and I just blurted the question after my son started the topic on what course is best for him to pursue in college.

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” I asked my son.

He hesitantly provided me with answers. Nothing was sticking. He was changing it every few seconds. Understandably true for every kid. But he is 16-years old. He should have something.

I can still vividly remember what I wanted to be when I was about 7-years old. Definitely not the next Miss Universe. Throughout the years, my answers to the question of what I wanted to be when I grow up changed a thousand times I’m sure.

Now, going back to my daughter.

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” we asked her once again.

She looked at us with firm conviction.

“Old and happy.”

It has been a tradition in our family that during birthdays we always have to serve food that symbolizes long life. Usually noodles and spaghetti are among the favorites. According to Chinese belief, eating these kind of food will add more years to the celebrant’s life. Long strands. Long life. Get it?

I made this Hong Kong Style Pan Fried Noodles from SugarLens.com for my husband’s birthday. What I like about this recipe is that it is very forgiving especially with the use of any ingredients available. I added crab sticks, cauliflower, and replaced king oyster mushroom with button mushrooms. Frying the noodles also add a different twist to the common use of noodles that ends up either in soup or cooked together with the sauce.

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My friends often ask me where I buy my baking supplies. Aside from online sources, my favorite is N.Y. Cake & Baking in West 22nd between Fifth and Sixth Avenue. You can also reach them online at nycake.com.

And this video? One of the most boring and shortest video that you can find.

Let me start with a disclosure: I love baking. I may not be your perfect baker but I do bake a lot. So, expect me to write about some of my oven exploits here.

I started baking in 1994, a few months before my son was born. I was working in a bank and the pregnancy downtime provided me with the opportunity to learn something new. In this instance, baking.

I became a regular visitor to different baking supplies store. I marveled on different books, magazines, and learned along the way. I was hooked.

Through the years, I’ve made hundreds of burnt cookies, super-mushy cupcakes, tilting cakes, and more. If you want to learn how to bake, all you have to do is bake. No excuses, that’s the only way to learn. There are no shortcuts.

I do not have any secret ingredient nor 100 year-old attic-hidden recipes. My ingredients are simple: quality ingredients, patience, passion and a dash of creativity.

Welcome to Blogging Mama, a blog that I’ve long been wanting to start for about three years now. The problem was that something was trying to pull me from continuing with it. I do not know what to write. I do not know what a mother for two kids and a wife to one can share. I am not interesting. I am not a good writer.

However, I have a story to tell. It may not be the most compelling story but I have one. It can be about my family, my thoughts, my work and my passion. It’s a story. And it is important that I share it with someone, like you, before I even let go and forget about it.

My favorite line about story telling is from Patricia Evangelista, the producer of the television show “Storyline” in the Philippines. She said:

“It doesn’t have to be a monumental story. It just needs spirit. We want a story that has heart, and we need a storyteller who can tell a story.”

So, let the blogging begin.